


Hold The Moment

by BeccaOfThePen



Category: Seduce Me (Visual Novel)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Did I mention fluff?, F/M, Fluff, Sex, The other guys are here but only as cameos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-09-13 04:55:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16885998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaOfThePen/pseuds/BeccaOfThePen
Summary: Originally an exploration of my headcannon of Sam's speed power, but also became slight character exploration with a dash of inspirational stuff. Updates will be sporadic as I focus on my main fic. Four to five chapters long, ish.Some time after the events of SM, Mika notices Sam has a strange habit. When she asks him about it she opens a door into parts of his life that she had never expected to see.





	1. A Moment In Time

**Author's Note:**

> Not connected to my main fic, A World Enough In Time, though I might have Sam's power work the same way there as here, because IMO this is just the coolest thing ever. XD
> 
> No idea how fast I will be updating this one, it will just depend on when the muse wants a break from AWEIT.
> 
> My headcannon for Sam's power was originally inspired by [ErlenmeyerKat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErlenmeyerKat/pseuds/ErlenmeyerKat) 's [Cloud Seeding - Diana](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6490258), who's idea fixed a major plot hole in Sam's ability that had been bugging me. This fic was inspired by that and my exploration of that idea.

Sam had a habit, a quirk that took Mika weeks to begin to notice: Occasionally, usually when he was particularly relaxed, she would see him just stop and look, usually at something beautiful or unusual – or her - and stay like that just for a second, or a few, and then he would, typically, turn away and move on to something else. Sometimes he would blink and smile at her but that odd shift would still be there, a change. It was subtle, which was why it took her so long to notice but once she did she couldn't _stop_ noticing it. It was almost like he was spacing out, but it was so brief and the way he changed after caught her attention. Not that Sam wasn’t capable of changing on a dime, but, this just felt… odd. Curious, harmless, but odd. It niggled at her intuition and she wanted to learn more, more about him.

Eventually, after thinking about it, her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to ask him about it.

The tipping point came one day shortly before sunset. There were birds playing and feeding on the garden outside where Mika had scattered seeds and mealworms for them earlier. Sam had stopped to look out the window to watch them with a small smile. It happened then, that moment of stillness, just a heart beat, then suddenly he was walking casually back towards the kitchen.

“I think I fancy a drink. Want one?” He called back to her.

“Sam…?”

He paused at her tone, looking back at her with a slight quizzical frown. “What?” He asked softly.

“Erm…” How to say this? Now that she was ready to ask it all seemed so silly, but it was niggling at her. Her brow knotted and mouth pursed as she looked at him.

He smirked slightly at the look on her face, frown deepening a little as he tried to guess what direction this was all going in. “Just spit it out doofus, or do you want me to play twenty questions or something?”

She released her tension in a quick sigh and jumped in. “Alright. What was that? By the window?”

“What was what by the window?”

“You were looking at the birds, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well, was that all there was to it? What were you thinking? You do this thing sometimes, like you did just then, where you just stop, just for a second, and its...” She noticed his expression had changed into one of surprise. “ _Odd_.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and he looked away, cheeks slightly pink, still looking surprised, starting to fidget a little.

_Gotcha…_

“Sam?” Her tone was suspicious, probing, pushing for answers.

“W-wha’? It-its nothing! I mean – I mean, its nothing important or bad or anything like that, just… enjoying the view, that’s all! Literally! That’s all.” He shrugged, clearly a little flustered. “Really, just… enjoying the view.”

“That usually takes more then just a second.”

“Hello? Demon? Don’t have to follow all the rules all the time.”

“So you were using your powers. Super speed?”

Sam gapped, mouth working silently for a second before he choked out a hesitant, “Y-yeah...”

Mika giggled at how flustered he was over this. “Alright then! That’s cool… why are you being all funny about it?”

“I-I’m not being _‘funny’_ about it! I’m… I… I just...” He sagged, sighing a little, “I just… no one has ever noticed me doing that before. At least, no one has noticed and called me on it… I just, I wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.” He brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck, not looking at her. She was still learning his tells but she had a strong hunch that there was more to it then that, but, for now she decided to let it slide; She didn’t want to make him _too_ uncomfortable after all.

She moved on, hoping he would relax. “Hehe, well, anyway, I guess it’s kinda cool. And it makes sense; you’d need to have enhanced senses or something to navigate when you move that fast, right? That must be pretty awesome, like a whole other way to see the world… I can get why you do that now.”

“...Yeah...”

“I’m kinda envious.”

He stepped closer to her quickly, saying hastily, “I could show you.” He froze then blinked, disbelieving that he had said that. “Erm...”

She giggled, “I’d like that! But, you don’t have to if you don’t want to-”

“I do! I do, want to. I mean it. I do. I just… it been a long, long time since I shared anything like this, and-” He paused, mouth open, hesitating, then closed it with a shake of his head. “Nothing.” He murmured.

 _Definitely more to this._ Mika thought to herself. Who had he shared this with before? What did it mean to him?

He sighed again, then smiled slightly, cheeks still a little pink and walked up to her.

She smiled back, reaching for him. “As long as you are certain...”

“I am.” He closed the remaining space between them and drawing her into a light embrace he planted a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I love you.” He murmured against her skin.

A little surprised at the shift in mood, she could only respond, softly “I love you, too...”

He held her like that for a few seconds more, his warm breath tickling her hair, before he ducked down to press a quick kiss to her lips. She froze, eyes a little wide, blushing. He smirked as he pulled back with a small laugh and blush of his own. He glanced away for a moment before looking back, smile and confidence more firmly in place. His hand on her arm, he began to guide her back to the window he had looked out of before.

Utterly caught up in the mood he had just set, she followed wordlessly, blinking, her cheeks warm.

“Stand here. Make sure you have a good view.” He told her.

She followed his direction. Outside, the birds fluttered and squabbled, hopping and darting back and forth. Sam moved behind her, embracing her tightly, bringing is body flush with hers. He leaned his head lightly against the side of hers, looking out of the window with her.

He shifted slightly. “Erm, hay, bare with me, alright? I'm not kidding when I say its been a long time since I have done this...”

She nodded and tilted her head to rest more firmly against the side of his, her arms coming up to hold his where they circled her waist. “Its ok, take your time...”

His lips twitched into a smirk before his expression smoothed into one of calm focus.

Mika let out a soft sigh as she watched the birds while enjoying the feel of him against her like this. Outside it was mostly small garden birds, squabbling over space and choice finds. To the side a much larger crow was gorging itself, the smaller birds keeping clear of it. Suddenly a fight broke out between two of the birds when one refused to give way to another, kicking up seeds and scattering their neighbours.

A wave of power rocked through her, reverberating under her skin and gathering in her chest, then exploding out to encompass her entire body.

The world fell silent. Utterly, utterly silent.

She could hear hear heart beating, her shocked accelerated breathing, the rustle of fabric as Sam shifted behind her, moving round to better see her face. She could hear his breathing, his heart beat...

There was no other sound to drown it out.

“You alright?” He asked quietly, in barely a whisper, though in the silence he sounded loud. He was smirking slightly, though his eyes watched her closely, a little concerned. Overwhelmed by the silence, eyes wide, she looked at him, taking a couple of deep breaths. She nodded slightly, unwilling to speak into this void just yet. Unthinking, she ignored the window as she looked around to the room beyond Sam and drew in a breath; everything shimmered. The colours brighter, bolder, the details sharper, and the faintest glow surrounded everything expanding only a millimetre or two from every surface. It was dream like, almost unreal looking. Agape, she glanced back to the grinning Sam, then to the room around them again; he looked normal, the rest of the world looked utterly transformed.

He chuckled softly, then said in that quiet whisper, amused, delighted, “Hay, doofus, aren’t you forgetting something?”

She looked at him, confused. He just grinned wider and motioned to the window with his head.

“Oh!” She exclaimed before looking back outside, cringing from the sound of her own voice. Her eyes widened, “ _Oh_...”

The birds, frozen in place, glowed. Or rather, they were surrounded by a faintly glowing shimmering aura, just like there was around everything else but far, far larger. The plants, she noticed, had it too but not so big. The grass was a wash of shining green, the trees beyond shimmered like desert heat next to the sky.

“What. What is that…? That glow...” She breathed, awed.

He paused, glancing up briefly as he tried to put it to words. “Its… their place in time.”

She wanted to look back at him, but couldn’t tear her eyes off the scene outside. “Their place in… time… oh...” She paused, swallowing, taking it all in. “Not- not just super speed then, huh?”

“No.” He chuckled. She could hear his grin as he watched her, feel his delight in her reaction to all this.

He leaned forward to place a kiss to her temple, which she leaned into slightly, starting to smile a little herself. The silence was horrible, alien, but what she could see outside was breathtakingly beautiful.

“That aura,” He said, glancing outside with her, “is the one big limiter to this power- well, aside from energy. It’s why I can’t just go around breaking legs or restraining people or stuff in an instant. Not a lot, anyway.”

“Their place in time… it pulls you in?”

“More or less. It depends. Those birds? No problem. A demon or a human? That’s a little different.”

She nodded, a little dazed. She was staring fixedly at the birds; now she was getting used to it she could just barely make out the smallest of movement, the barest expanding of wings, the oh so slow motion of seeds and dirt flying through the air. Aura aside, they were stunning to look at too; in this altered space the enhanced colours of their feathers, the details of them were gorgeous, captivating.

Sam explained, “If I want to interact with anything living – _anything_ alive – from this state, I have to go against that pull. The bigger or the more powerful they are, the stronger its spirit, the stronger the pull. Enough of a pull and it slows me down. Too much and I am back on their level again. I can fight it but that burns energy and takes more concentration.” He paused a moment then added, “Oh. Yeah, spirits count too, sort of, but there’s all sort of weird shit that can happen with them, and I don’t exactly run into them everyday now.”

He cut off a little too abruptly, an odd note in his voice, and she finally pulled herself away from the view outside the window to look up at him, concerned. Was he talking about his mother and the Demon Lord’s other wives? Those were the only spirits from his past that she knew of.

He was smiling however and motioned towards the birds. “Want me to make that a little more interesting?”

She nodded, a fresh smile blooming over her face. He beamed at her. They turned to look outside and, gradually, she saw the movement of the birds begin to increase. She watched, breathless, as they were transformed from looking like near statues, to being able to see clearly the motions of feathers as wings extended or pushed down, the scattering of dirt and seed as they jumped or landed, how their feathers rippled from the wind. She watched the crow blink.

“Oh… wow… Sam...”

He held her close, grinning against her hair. “I’m so glad you like this...”

The auras that surrounded everything wasn’t quite as bright like this, not as big, nor – she realised after a moment to get used to the change – were the colours and details as sharp as they were before. Everything was just that little bit closer to being normal again, which made sense.

A movement caught her eye, a relative quick one and it took a moment for her to realise what it was; a fly, a big one, was making its way past the window, its wings quite fast even from this perspective. Still, she could see a fly beat its wings...

“Like it?” She breathed, “Sam… this is incredible...”

He chuckled and hummed in agreement as he nuzzled against her head, no longer paying the slightest bit of attention to anything outside.

“How often do you do this? This is amazing...”

He smirked. “Just enjoying a moment like this? Whenever I feel like it... Assuming I have the energy to spare that is.” He kissed her head, “Just spending time being in this state?” His fingers poked her side. “How often do I use my ‘super speed’?”

She squeaked and giggled, “Ah, yeah, right. Hehe.” She was grinning widely now, relishing taking in all the little details around her that this new perspective gave her. “So you like it here, like this I mean?”

“Eh, sort of, I guess? I mean, its pretty- beautiful, even, and damn useful. The quiet is kinda dull though, at least, it is if I am like this for too long, anyway. And it’s way, way too quiet to be all that restful. So, I guess, its alright but it gets kinda boring if I use it too much.” He paused a moment before adding, “Not like I have had anyone else here to talk to either.”

Abandoning the view she turned in his arms and he leaned back a little so they could look at each other properly.

“Till now?” She asked. A request and an offer.

Sam’s grin was ear to ear, his eyes bright, joyful, loving. “Yeah. Yeah! I’d love it, if you’d like to, if you’d want to, spend more time like this with me. Heh.”

She grinned back at him and reached up to to pull him down into a kiss, the world around them still aglow.

 


	2. Experiences

Over the next couple of weeks Mika started to see parts of Sam’s personality that she hadn’t fully seen before, such as a really admirable sense of fair play; His so called ‘super speed’ really gave him a ridiculous advantage in so many situations, if he had chosen to use it. Yet, particularly when it came to his brothers, he restrained himself – remarkably so with Matthew, she realized -, letting things play out without leaning on his ability, even to his detriment at times.

When she asked him about it, he said, surprising her, “Coming out on top all the time is no fun when you care about the other person.”

Then again, there were times when he did use his power, and made it obvious, and she saw that playful side of him come out. His response to her enquiries about _that_ were usually just a cocky smirk and a shrug, “I gotta have my fun sometimes.”

Once, he smiled softly then grew serious, “I am what I am- _w_ _ho_ I am. I want to be fair to my brothers, to you, but, I ain't gonna just hobble myself. So, I try to pick my moment, you know?”

She grew more impressed, more charmed, as the days rolled by, even as she found herself shaking her head at his more stubborn, argumentative tendencies at times, to say nothing of his temper.

The more he shared his ability with her, holding her in those moments with him that he wanted to share with her, the more sensitive she became to him using it without her; like when they were walking about in public and she held his hand, despite his initial blushes, she would periodically once she learned how to sense it, feel that brief, barely there ripple of energy under his skin, most frequently when he was somewhere new or seemed uncertain.

She had an idea as to what that was about but it didn’t fully hit her until, one day, when he had tagged along with her as she went shopping for some new clothes - he was hopeless for anything but bag carrying there, but it was fun to have him along regardless -, and a fight broke out nearby between two thieves and shop security.

The initial shout startled everyone, including her. She jumped, grabbing his arm on reflex as he turned to look to wards the commotion.

 _There!_ That hum was there under his skin as he took in the scuffle. Her eyes snapped to his face.

He quickly glanced away from the fight and looked around them and, like the flicker of his pulse under her finger tips, she felt it; ripple after ripple of power.

He was buying himself time, she realized, time to look, to take everything – _everything_ – in; the fight, the other people in the shop, the situation they were in, the environment. Time to asses, to think. It wasn’t obvious, he looked alert, quick, but not inhumanly so. It was probably a gain of only seconds for him, particularly with her holding onto his arm like this, but she knew that was a lifetime if danger was about, if you might be in for a fight.

The thieves were making a break for the exit but she was already relaxing next to Sam, feeling safe, the corners of her mouth pulling into a smile. For a moment she felt him tense and she thought he might go after them, might try to stop them.

He glanced back at her and caught her looking at him, making him pause. He frowned at her quizzically. “What?”

She smiled at him, “Nothin’, just… you being you.”

He blinked at her, confused, before looking back to the exit where the thieves were rushing onto the street. He frowned as he watched them vanish round the corner before turning back to her.

Happy, she hugged his arm to her, reaching down with one hand to lace her fingers with his.

Bemused and blushing, he cocked his head at her. “Er, heh, you alright?”

“Perfectly.” She grinned and kissed his shoulder. “I love you, Sam.”

“...You’re odd...”

Mika laughed.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A couple of days later a massive thunder storm hit towards the end of dinner, wind and rain thrashing against the windows, while the thunder made them rattle periodically. It was the largest storm to hit since she had started to live at the mansion with Sam and his brothers. Shortly after it started, Sam sat up strait, pausing with a fork full of food half way to his mouth. He lowered it, looking out of the windows, eyes a little wide but distant.

“Sam?” James asked, first to notice.

“Hm?”

“You alright, Sam?” Mika asked, concerned.

“Yeah. Yeah, I… just remembered something...” He turned to look back at her, an odd intensity about him, but a slight smile in his eyes. “Hurry up and eat, doofus. I have an idea.”

She paused, wondering what on earth triggered this, not to mention what it was about.

Matthew was eyeing Sam suspiciously. “An idea? What, to do with the storm?”

Sam was shovelling the last of his food into his mouth, “Non o’ yo’ busines’.”

Erik made a face, “ _Please_ don’t tell me you are planning to drag her out into _that_ , Sam, really...”

Sam shot him a glare.

Mika poked her dinner, eyes jumping from Sam to the rattling windows doubtfully. “Erm...”

Sam swallowed his mouthful of food and gave her an earnest look, “Please, just, hurry up. This will be worth it, I promise.” She opened her mouth, about to protest when he added the killer blow, “Trust me.”

She sagged, defeated, unable to argue when he looked at her like that, asking her openly to trust him. “O-okay...”

“Are you serious…?” James asked Sam, incredulous.

Sam, however, ignored him and beamed at Mika, grinning widely. She thought she saw a flicker of slight hesitation in his eyes, doubt maybe, but before she could ponder on it more, he was getting up from his seat, done eating. He leaned over to place a quick kiss to her hair, hand on her shoulder, before he walked hastily from the dining room without another word.

Erik shook his head, “You _really_ don’t have to go out there, princess, certainly not in this weather, no matter what idea he might have gotten into his head.”

“Yeah,” Matthew chimed in, looking concerned. “It’s pretty bad out there, you could get sick or something… right?”

James shook his head. “I doubt Sam would allow anything to go that far. Still, you don’t have to agree to whatever he has planned if you don’t want to go along with it.”

“It’s fine… And I already said yes.” She shrugged with a small if wary smile, and re-focused on her food.

Damien, silent through it all, kept his head down, seemingly focused on his dinner.

Just as she was finishing Sam came back holding her largest waterproof coat and the biggest umbrella they owned.

Matthew snorted and waved his fork at the umbrella, “Seriously?? Dude, that thing is going to be _useless_ out there! What are you thinking?!”

“Butt out of it, squirt.” Sam snipped back at him, causing Matthew to pull a face.

“Matthew has a point...” James sighed exasperated as he eyed Sam.

“Look, I have a plan, ok? I know what I’m doing.”

James sighed, shaking his head as Erik burred his face in his hands and Matthew snorted. Damien was simply watching everything passively.

Sam scowled, “Gee, thanks, guys!”

Mika chuckled as she stood up and walked over to him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

He huffed then blushed a little as he looked at her, lips twitching into a small smile. “You ready?”

“Well, I’m done eating. What’s the plan?”

He held up the coat with a smirk. “Put this on.”

She shook her head with a sigh, amused, but turned to slip her arms into the coat anyway.

A particularly loud bang of thunder shook the house, the space outside the windows flashing brightly. Mika squeaked in surprise and everyone froze for a moment.

“Princess,” Erik called over, both lightly lightly teasing and concerned all at once, “It’s not too late to change your mind you know. If he complains we can always intervene on your behalf.”

“Yeah,” Matthew chuckled a little nervously, “We could hold him down or something while you make a break for it!”

Sam shot him a look. “Pft… Yeah right.”

Matthew stuck his tongue out at him.

Mika laughed a little uneasily after that bang as she finished fastening the coat. “It’s alright… I hope.” She shot Sam a half joking look of concern.

Sam smiled, “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Come on.” He held out his hand for her, still holding the umbrella in the other. She took it, gripping harder then necessary in nervousness. He squeezed back reassuringly and began to lead them towards the back of the house.

“Good lu-uuuck!” Matthew singsonged after them.

Sam grumbled under his breath as Mika giggled.

Reaching the door to the back garden, Sam checked behind them to make sure the others hadn’t followed. Outside another flash of lightning and its immediate boom of thunder shook the glass.

Turning to her with a wide grin, he said, “Alright! So, erm, I want you to close your eyes, ok? And no peeking till I say!” She glanced out the window dubiously. He sighed, “Please?”

She grimaced, expecting to get very wet very quickly at this rate, but nodded and closed her eyes with a sigh.

“Alright!” He said, sounding relieved. “Now, don’t let go of my hand, ok? And remember to keep your eyes closed until I say.”

She nodded.

He readjusted his grip on her hand, took in a breath and-

Power rushed through her hand, up her arm and through her body, echoing around and around under her skin and in an instant-

_-Silence._

She gasped. She hadn’t expected him to pull them out of sync with time and that now more familiar rush of absolute silence shocked her after the dull roar of the storm outside.

“Eyes closed!” He warned her in that quiet voice he always used when sharing his power with her like this, catching her in time. She scrunched her eyebrows and nodded. “Sorry,” he said, “I probably should have warned you. Right, give me a moment, then I’ll lead you outside, ok? Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall or anything.”

She nodded again, still getting used to the silence.

Beside them the door clicked, and she winced. She frowned as she listened to it open, the muffled woosh of air as it moved. She could have sworn that door was quiet normally but that was not the case here in this void of silence. Here, she could hear the hinges.

There was a rustle of fabric then a pause. Sam said, “Er, I’m gonna open the umbrella now, this is probably gonna sound really loud.”

Mika let out a bark of laughter then squawked as her own volume surprised her, her free hand flying over her mouth. She giggled, “So you DO have a working plan for that! Hehe...”

He didn’t answer right away and she could feel him glaring at her, which made her giggle more. “Humph.” The umbrella snapped open, terribly loud, and she jumped with a squeak. He chuckled wickedly, “Serves you right for doubting me.”

There was a swoosh of what sounded like Sam waving the umbrella around as she kept her hand over her mouth, grinning and close to laughing from excitement. Sam had never shown her rain like this before and her mind was giddy trying to think of what it would look like.

There was a couple of dull clicks then he said, sounding satisfied, “Alright... I want you to step outside now, I’ll guide you.”

She nodded and carefully stepped forward, one hand holding his, his other hand coming up to rest on her other elbow as he led her outside, talking her over the steps. Stepping onto the path her feet splashed onto the wet ground, the sound cut short and strangely hollow sounding.

Sam let go of her elbow and stepped next to her. “Alright... You can open your eyes now.” He sounded both excited and nervous.

She opened her eyes tentatively then gasped. Whatever she had expected, it wasn’t this.

She was surrounded by light, every raindrop glowing weakly and that weak glow, multiplied over billions of drops had transformed the air into a wind rippled aurora. Sam had pulled them far enough out of step with normal time that each drop seemed suspended in the air.

Watching her expression with a grin, he asked, “So, what'd ya think?”

“I--” She took a breath and paused, mouth opening then closing as she looked around. She took a breath to speak then let it out in a sigh. “… Yeah...”

Sam grinned wider, stepping close to place a kiss on her cheek, which she leaned into automatically, eyes wide as she looked around. Distantly she noticed the umbrella propped against the wall near by.

For a long minuet they just stood there in silence, looking at the world around them. Layer upon layer of time-lit rain rippled around them, frozen in the air.

“Hay,” Sam said softly into the silence. “wanna see something _really_ cool?”

She looked to him wide eyed and nodded.

He smirked and took half a step forward and reached his hand into the line of rain. She blinked and looked around, only then realising they had been standing in empty air, a bubble free of rain.

“Oh, you used the umbrella to clear space!”

He chuckled. “Yeah… Took you long enough to notice, ya doofus. hehe.”

She blushed in embarrassment before turning back to what he was doing. Seeing he had her attention he slowly moved his hand through the rain, catching the drops on his hand. As they touched his skin they lost their glow instantly and rolled across his skin as normal water. As he gathered more he turned his hand so the drops rolled down his fingers, letting them fall one by one. As they fell away they froze in the air, resuming their previous glow. Eyes wide she stepped closer, watching the drops trailing behind the movements of his hand, leaving a glowing string of beads suspended in the air.

“Have a go if you want.” He said, smiling widely as he watched her.

She looked at him a smile pulling at her mouth, excitement overtaking her again. Enraptured, she reached into the rain, cupping her hand and catching the water in her palm, moving it back and forth before tilting her hand and sweeping it in an arc, leaving a loop of large shimmering drops and water ribbons in her wake. She grinned hugely, and flicked her hand sending the rest of the water scattering, though it still froze as it left her skin just like the rest.

Her delighted laugh rang out in the silence and for the first time since he had started sharing these moments with her, she didn’t care about the volume. Sam watched her, eyes shining, just as enchanted by her as she was by the rain he was showing her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read this so far and left kudos! Hope everyone enjoys this next chapter. ^_^


	3. The eye of the storm

Stood outside, the storm was frozen around Mika and Sam. Sam watched her play with the rain with a smile, his eyes only for her.

Eventually, radiant with happiness, Mika turned from the water to fling her free arm around his neck, reaching up to kiss his cheek, his lips, then ducking to nuzzle against his neck. “Thank you, Sam, thank you so much for this.”

He blushed, grinning, looking a little giddy from her affection. He chuckled and kissed her hair. “I’m so glad you’re happy...”

They stayed like that for a little while, her turning her head so she could look out at the rain while still staying close.

Eventually he said, “Hay, you want me to slow us down a little so we can see the rain move? We can shelter in the gazebo so we don’t get wet.”

“Yes please!” she answered immediately, enthusiastically.

He reached for the umbrella he had left by the wall, the glow it had gained vanishing as he picked it back up.

A thought occurred to her. “Sam, you can move things, and people, without pulling them into this space with you, right? I mean, you have with me.”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah I can.”

“Hows that work?”

He made a face. “Er… Well... Its like...” The umbrella in his hand took on its glow again and a strange shimmer appeared around his hand where he held it. He frowned. “How to describe this… Its like… like a bubble? A gradient? Er…” He shook his head. “It’s hard to describe. Its like an anchor, sort of… Erm...”

She giggled and decided to be merciful. “Don’t worry, I think I get the idea.”

He gave her a lopsided smile and shrugged as the umbrella lost its glow. “Well, anyway, its not worth the energy cost with inanimate things. With people, in short bursts, its useful though.”

“Yeah, I remember.” She smirked, thinking of their first night together.

He frowned.

Her smirk grew wicked. “After Diana left.”

His eyes widened and he glanced away, blushing red as a tomato at the reminder of his initial haste that night. He pouted a little as she laughed at him.

“Sorry, Sam, you’re just so adorable.”

“Hmh... Never living that one down, am I?” his lips twitched into a small smile as he looked back at her.

“Nope, never!” she grinned and reached up to kiss him. He met her half way, leaning close. The kiss was slow, deep but gentle. When she teased him by nipping at his lip he growled and pulled away.

“Later.” he breathed huskily, resting his forehead on hers, eyes closed.

“Promise?” she purred, deliberately teasing him still.

He groaned and stepped back with a look that said, ‘behave’. “You wanna see the storm or not?”

“Yes. Yes! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” she smiled slyly.

“And people say I have impulse control problems.” he said with a lopsided smirk and leaned back in to quickly kiss her hair.

With one last warm look he turned back to the rain, pointing the umbrella towards the gazebo. Using it like a snow plough he cleared a path through the rain, leading her through the clear space it left. She looked on delighted as the water rolled off it, leaving broken ribbons of water suspended in the air close to the ground.

Reaching the gazebo he stepped up to one side and nimbly hopped up to sit on the rails. “Sit.”

“Sam, its wet!”

“You’re wearing your coat, aren’t you? Or, just sit on my lap.” he smirked.

“You sure about that last one?” she teased.

His lips twitched and he shrugged, blushing slightly. “I’ll behave if you will.”

She pouted and paused as if considering.

“Mika...” he said in a low voice, amused yet warning. “Please, just, sit with me.”

That snapped her out of it, mostly. She blinked up at him before nodding and smiling. “Alright.” With his help she moved to sit on his lap. He smiled into her hair as she settled against him, planting a soft kiss to the side of her head. Once they were comfortable he moved the umbrella to rest between them and the path of the wind, shielding them.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

Slowly, the ripples in the rain began to move and sway around them, buffered by the wind in a dance of light that filled her vision where ever she looked.

“Oh...” she whispered, awed all over again. After a little while she said, in a reverent whisper, “It’s like something from a sci-fi film… but it’s _real_. It’s...” she broke off, speechless.

He closed his eyes as he nuzzled her hair slightly. “Mmm… it’s amazing the things you can see when you look.”

“Easy for you to say, I doubt anyone sees the world the way you- oh!”

At that moment a flare of light lit the sky above and they both looked up to see lines of white winding across the sky in a many branching fan.

“Is that lightning?” she asked surprised.

“Yeah, the start of it.”

“Start?”

“Yeah. When one of those branches touches the ground the bolt will strike. Watch your eyes when that happens, it’s bright.”

She watched fascinated as the branches split and zigzagged above them, brighter at their tips, some fading into nothing, getting closer and closer to the ground. When one of them looked like it was about to touch, she squinted in anticipation, narrowing her eyes to slits, trying to shield her vision but still wanting to watch.

Light flared brilliantly across the landscape, drowning out everything else for a couple of seconds.

“Wow!” she gasped.

“Heh, yeah...”

Blinking to clear her vision she watched the bolt, now a singular line of light, still bright but no longer blinding, as it pulsed and began to fade.

“It went up…” She said in softly delighted surprise. “Once it hit, the power went _up_ … I didn’t know it did that.”

Sam just chuckled.

She glanced back at him. “You watched a lot of lightning before coming here, then?” When Sam didn’t answer she twisted in his arms face him more fully. “Sam?”

His expression was wistful and distant. “Yeah, I did, almost every chance I got.”

She reached up to touch his cheek softly and he smiled a little but didn’t loose that wistful look.

He looked away from her back out to the storm. “Storms like this… they used to terrify me when I was little, I’d hide away in the depths of the castle when they happened.” He paused for a long moment before continuing. “Mom noticed, so, one day, when she thought I was far enough along in learning how to use my powers, she took me out into the garden- not during a storm, just some rain, and she… She told me how, no mater how bad or good things are, that there are moments, good moments that you can find and hold onto. She said that, if you look at it right, the rain was beautiful, even though the clouds made everything grey.”

He paused again and she watched him with bated breath, a little stunned; this was the first time he had ever spoken about his past in this way, and this was certainly the most he had ever said about his mother.

He continued after a few moments, “I inherited this ability from her, she is the one who taught me how to use it, and how to share it like this. The first time she taught me to share it with her was in the rain.” He smiled softly looking out across the landscape. “Later that month a storm hit and she managed to coax me to a window,” he smirked slightly, “which took some doing.” He snorted. “The storm was almost past before she finally got me to cooperate. That was the first time I saw lightning like this.”

“Oh...” She whispered, awed, touched and feeling humbled as she started to get an idea of what this was really about for him. “You weren’t afraid after that?” she asked, softly, when it didn’t seem like he was going to continue.

He chuckled. “Well, no, I was still afraid, but I got better pretty quick. Eventually I even started to enjoy them.” He smirked lopsidedly, “It reached a point once where I got curious, too curious. Lightning doesn’t seem so bad from this perspective, very bright but not that bad, so, for a little while, I tried getting closer to them.”

“Uh oh...”

“Heh, yeah… I asked mom about getting close to lightning but she warned me not to. When I asked if she had before, she said yes and told me to learn from her mistakes.”

Mika smirked, seeing where this was going. “Did you?”

“Pft. No.”

She giggled, “What happened?”

He paused, lips pursed, debating with himself, looking at her.

“Come on Sam, don’t leave me hanging like this!”

He sighed with a half smile, “Alright, alright.” He had the look and sound of someone who knew that whatever he was about to say would be embarrassing but entertaining enough to be worth it. “One day, a few decades ago, a storm passed by the castle, close enough for the lightning but not so close as to be hit by most of the rain. Me, being an idiot, decided to try and get close to a bolt. I had gotten a little close before, the ground does this weird static thing around where a strike is going to hit, or might hit, and I wanted to try and find one of those spots again. Well, I found two of them, really close together.”

Mika listened, completely absorbed by his story.

Some way to the east, light flared as another lighting strike began, but they both ignored it.

Sam continued, “So, with two of them near by, I tried to guess which one might actually be hit.”

“And you guessed wrong?”

“I guessed wrong, yeah.” he chuckled. “I may have been an idiot but even I wasn’t dumb enough to stand right in the middle of a strike on purpose. I meant to stand back from it, but, in picking the wrong one I wound up too close when the bolt landed...” He shook his head with a sheepish smile. “It surprised me… surprised me enough, that, combined with the electricity, it jolted me back in sync with normal time.”

“Oh, shit!”

Off to the east, light flared brilliantly as the second bolt hit.

“Heh, yeah. Next thing I knew I was on my back some way away from where I started, hearing nothing but a _really_ loud ringing in my ears. My vision was almost a white-out and my whole body _ached_. I think I blacked out for a few seconds too.”

“Ouch… You weren’t hurt bad, were you?”

“Nah, not particularly. Took _way_ more time then I was happy with to fix my hearing though. That was _not_ fun.”

She chuckled and he continued with a self deprecating grimace, “I turned tail and headed back into the castle after that, wanting to put my feet up or something, I don’t remember. I, eh, bumped into Matthew and Damien on my way in, and, well, Matthew took one look at me and burst out laughing, Damien too. I, I hadn’t realised that the electricity had done a number on my hair...” She burst out laughed picturing it. He pulled a face, “Matthew said if my hair had been black I would have looked _‘like a soot spite hiding in the bushes_ ’.”

She pictured his demon form with his green horns and markings, laughing more. For clarity, she asked. “Soot sprite?”

“Think spiky, fuzzy black pompom...” he said with that same grimace, making her chuckle.

“I thought so. That’s cute!” she giggled, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

Sam smiled with a blush and held her close. He shook his head. “Can’t quite believe I just told you that one… Please don’t tell Matthew I did; he does _not_ need a reminder.”

“No promises.”

“Hay!” he pouted.

“Alright, alright. Promise.” she giggled again, and rested her head on his shoulder, watching the storm ripple around them from there. Sam wedged the umbrella behind his back, freeing himself up to wrap his arm around her waist, supporting her, holding her close.

After a little while, her curiosity niggled at her, an intuition that been with her since the very first time he had shared this power with her. She hesitated, then decided, given he had already said this much already, to just ask. She sat up to face him fully. “Sam… you said you shared this ability with your mother.”

“Yeah.”

“Was there… Anyone else?”

“… why do you ask?”

She paused looking down, gathering her thoughts for a moment. “It’s just...” she looked back up at him. “Ever since the first day, when you showed me the birds feeding by the window, I just have had the feeling that this ability of yours, sharing it anyway, means something to you, and the way you were talking just then… I just, I mean… I guess I just wanted to know...” She trailed off, unsure, not even certain of what she was trying to say as she chased a feeling, hoping he understood.

Sam was silent for a long moment, cheeks a little pink. He reached a hand up to stroke it over her hair. Finally he said, letting his hand settle on her shoulder, “Once.”

“Once?”

He nodded. “Aside from with my mother, I only shared it once, with Damien, though I don’t think he remembers.”

Her eyes were wide. Faintly, she asked, “Why wouldn’t he remember? What happened?”

Sam’s face darkened and he frowned, shaking his head. “Just some bad shit. You don’t need to know the details. The only relevant bit is that, he needed time. He was hurt and _really_ out of it. I couldn’t just get him out of there to recover and protecting him there wouldn’t have been enough, he needed to be able to move himself. So, I got him the time he needed. Not enough to make anyone suspicious, just enough that he wasn’t so vulnerable.” Sam shrugged. “Even when I let us fall back in sync with everyone else again he was still pretty dazed looking, so, I doubt he remembers much, if anything.”

In the silence that followed another flash lit the sky above, this time slightly to the south.

She reached her hand up to cup his cheek, which he turned and nuzzled into, eyes closing as his expression cleared. Holding him, being held by him, her heart felt aflame now that she had the answer to her riddle; this really was special to him and aside from the time spent with his mother, he had only shared it once out of necessity.

“I understand.” she whispered, “I love you, Aomaris.” She had almost called him ‘Sam’, but now, after all that been said, surrounded by the light of the storm, this felt right instead.

He jolted in her arms and blinked at her, wide eyed. It was only the fourth time she had used his true name; first to summon him after Malix had abducted her, second towards the end of a discussion about their relationship the day after Diana had left for good, and third curled in bed once after they had made love.

He took in an unsteady breath and whispered back, shakily, “I love you too, Mika...” He sounded awed, looking at her like she was the most precious thing in all the universe, like he was afraid she could vanish like smoke. It took her breath away.

Leaning in to kiss him she forgot all about the storm around them, the lightning and the rain, her focus was on Sam and Sam alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read this I hope you enjoy it. ^_^
> 
> I have one or two more chapters planned, depending on weather stuff fits in just one or not, dunno yet.


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